


Beckoning Cat

by Renookie



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Gen, Infrequent Updates, author doesn't know what the words "executive function" mean, based on the anime, but I did screw around with a ton of lore, death the kid has a kid now, is it crack if I'm not joking?, most of the focus is on the OCs, next gen fic, so does stein, tags will be updated as story progresses, there are way too many cats in my outline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renookie/pseuds/Renookie
Summary: Death's daughter begins classes at the academy.
Kudos: 2





	Beckoning Cat

It was a fresh, blank sheet of drawing paper on the top of the pad. She held her pen over it in preparation.

The window was open and a reddish light came through it, illuminating the paper and the girl holding the pen sharply. Her hair was black and her eyes were amber, but the light made them look redder. Her mint green jacket appeared yellowish.

She made her first stroke. The pen glided like no other tool, smooth and quick. It wasn't rough like a pencil or vast like a brush. The line was pale and as she continued to draw, it curved.

Her first stroke was finished. A large circle sat in the center of the paper. It wasn't particularly round and she had gone through it multiple times, making it look like a mess, but that could be ignored. Not every circle could be perfect, and perfection wasn't the goal. It was the correct imperfections in the correct places that yielded the results she wanted.

She created another line, curving this one multiple times. The pen slid across the page with the distinct sound only a pen can make as she finished the shape and picked her pen up from the paper.

A cloud. It was partially obscured by the sun and looked like a child's stamp. Anyone could've drawn it. She sighed. The next one would be better.

She put down her pen and drew the next cloud. It looked almost the same save for a single extra curve.

Then, the next one.

Then, the one after that.

The sunset outside was full of diversity with not a single repeating spot. It was beautiful and lively, with colors to remember for lifetimes. The sun shone from the center of it like a beacon of power.

The sunset on the paper was bland and uninteresting. The lines were shaky and the sun wasn't even round. Its clouds all looked the same. There was no life to it. It meant nothing.

The girl's hand tensed. She couldn't throw the pen, but she wanted to. Something deep within her had shifted, and she didn't know how to respond. She clicked the pen, but it did nothing to help her.

She wanted to break the pen and watch the ink leak onto her hands and splatter all over the paper.

She wanted to throw the drawing pad out the window and watch it fall to the pavement.

She wanted to take the pen's pieces and drive them into the walls.

She wanted to slam her arms against the pieces wedged in the walls and watch blood mix with tears.

The drawing was worthless and so was she. She meant nothing, and nothing she made would ever have any meaning. She would never be good enough, because if she couldn't be proud of anything she made then how could anyone be proud of her? If her art was terrible, then she must have been, and who could love something so terrible?

Everyone that said her work was good was lying, they had to be. There was no way they couldn't have been. Behind her back, they were laughing. She was nothing but a joke and she wasn't supposed to know, but she did, and now the joke was ruined.

Was it better to be a worthless joke than to just be terrible?

"Domin."

Oh, right. This was a drawing. She wasn't supposed to feel this way over a piece of paper.

She turned to her father.

—

This was annoying.

Domin walked up to the entrance of the building. It was a distinct shape with spikes jutting out in odd ways and the dark coloring of the spikes only accented their strange nature. Just what could be in them? Would a room even fit? Would it be safe to put a room in one of them?

It wasn't like they were pretty, either. If Domin were going to design a monster's lair, ridiculous spikes would've been the first thing she considered—and rejected.

What was even the use of them? 

Lookouts, maybe? Then again, they were all angled and a cone is hard enough to maintain grip on. Any lookouts would be so busy trying to stay on the spikes that they wouldn't even be able to see anything.

Who designed this?

"What are you doing?"

Domin let out a startled yelp, whirling to face the voice. The girl before her was around her age with blonde hair that only reached her shoulders. Her eyes were yellow, but other than that everything else about her was red, from her shirt to her shoes. The only variation was in shade. There was a dark triangle on the girl's shirt that matched her pants.

"Am I not allowed to look at the building?" Domin said.

"You're just standing there," The girl said. "Why not move to a more remote spot?"

"I was walking and I stopped," Domin said.

"Why did you stop?"

"To look at the building."

"Why are you looking at the building?"

"It's ugly."

"Why is it ugly?"

"Those spikes."

"What about them?"

"They're just—" Domin threw her hands in front of her face in exasperation and curled her fingers. "They're just... I hate them."

"Have you ever been here before?"

Domin's mind froze temporarily as she tried to figure out why the girl was asking her this. "Uh... no?"

"So, you're new?" The girl said, a small smile on her lips.

"I guess."

"You guess?"

"I guess."

"Shouldn't you know these things?"

'Shouldn't you know not to be an asshole?' was not an appropriate response. Neither was hitting her, and neither was leaving. Domin wanted to do all three in succession.

In her silence, a dark brown haired girl inserted herself into the group. "Who are you bothering now, Red?"

"Am I not allowed to greet the new student?" The blond haired girl, Red, said.

"Not in the way you always do it," The brown haired girl replied.

Yellow eyes locked onto blue ones as the two engaged in a silent battle of wills. Just before Domin could slip away, it was broken by yet another stranger joining the party.

This stranger was orange-haired and copper-eyed. He wore a large red sweatshirt with a white v on it. But, the most noticeable part of his appearance was the striped cat ears poking out from the top of his hair. He flicked one of them in irritation.

"What's going on here?" He asked. "Snithe, are you insulting Red again?"

Red's smile grew into a grin.

"Sure," Snithe said.

Red turned to the boy, her grin growing menacing. "Help me defend my honor. Avenge the insult."

Snithe snorted.

The boy shrugged. "Why not?"

Snithe sighed, playing with a loose string on her black shirt. The shirt was an interesting pattern; it had a stripe running from the collar and along the arm until it reached her hands. It was a look that Domin would struggle to make aesthetically pleasing if she drew it.

"As long as we finish before class," She said.

"We will," Red said.

The boy was less certain. "If we're quick! Go get your partner."

"Alright," Snithe said, completely unenthused. Then, she turned to Domin. "We do this every Monday. We're always late."

Domin stared on in confusion as Snithe left.

"Do you?" She said.

The boy hesitated for a moment before speaking as if he had forgotten that she was there. "Oh! Yeah, sometimes. I'm Jason, by the way."

"Okay," Domin said. She was supposed to give her name, right? "I'm... Domin."

"I don't recognize you—"

"She's new," Red interrupted. "I've been prying for information but she's a dryer conversation partner than Snithe."

What? Were they going back to talking like she wasn't here?

Domin stammered, trying time insert herself back into the conversation, before Jason cut her off.

"Well, that's cool! Where are you from?" He asked.

"Here," Domin said.

"I live here, too. It's weird that I haven't seen you."

Should he have? Domin didn't know anything about him, and she rarely left her home anyways.

"I don't go out much," She said.

Red tilted her head slightly. "So you're a shut-in?"

"I guess."

"Who's your partner?" Red said.

"Don't have one."

Jason made a motion that Domin couldn't understand. "Why not?"

"I'm not here for that."

"Are you an autonomous weapon, then?"

"No."

"Then what are you here for?" Red asked. "This is the Death Weapon Meister Academy."

"I don't even know!" Dommy said, suppressing the urge to scream. "All I know is that I have to be here now and there's nothing I can do to get out of it."

Red started cackling. The noise was so odd and unsettling that it made Domin flinch.

"Oh, I think I know who you are now," Red said.

"Who?" Jason asked.

Red threw her hand to the side dramatically. "I'm not going to say it."

"Why not?"

"It'll be funnier if you don't know," She said.

The conversation was bouncing like a pinball and Domin didn't understand how to keep up. Red knew what now?

"They're here!" Jason said.

"Looks like Fen is starting," Red said. "This one might be a challenge."

Jason frowned. "Snithe isn't that bad with him."

"She's a better weapon than Meister and she knows it," Red said. "I just want her to act on it sometime."

"Why can't you just let her do what she wants?"

Just then, the subjects of conversation arrived. Fen was a redhead with countless freckles. He wore a bright blue shirt with an overly saturated sun that stung to look at almost as much as the real thing. He held his partner with both hands.

Snithe's weapon form was quite pleasing. She was a black scythe with a split on the end of the blade. A blue line started at the tip of the top toe, widened as it went, and ended where the blade met the heel. The ring was blue, making it appear as if the blue line from the blade wrapped around it.

Domin almost wanted to hold her. The blue matched her mint green jacket and the black matched her hair. Not only that, but the pattern was stunning. What was hard to execute in an outfit was now a perfect complement for Snithe's form.

Would they think Domin was strange if she asked to hold her?

They probably would. They'd probably look at her all confused and walk away, and then she would never be able to talk to them again because she was the weirdo that asked to hold Snithe.

"You ready, Red?" Jason said.

Red grinned that same maniacal grin she had when she instigated the fight earlier. There was a gleam in her eyes that could only be bloodlust. Her next words were practically a yell. "Fuck yeah!"

Red transformed. Her weapon form was a dark red mace. It was topped by a sharp point that jutted off of a bright, saturated octahedron.

"Are we starting yet?" Snithe said, her human form's face shown in the reflection of her blade. Unlike Red, there was little excitement in her words or expression.

"We need to get to a suitable place first!" Jason said. "We don't want to accidentally hurt a bystander!"

"They'd have to be stupid to get in the way! They'd deserve it!" Red said. "I'm with Snithe! Let's just do this. No one is even watching. They're all inside."

'I'm still here,' was likely not an appropriate response. Moving several feet away, however, was, and Domin did just that.

Fen took a quick glance around. "She's right! Let's start. I can't wait to kick your ass!"

"I'd rather kick yours instead!" Jason said, throwing himself at the pair.

Fen blocked the attack with the snick in Snithe's toe and Red's head interlocked with it. Then, he slammed the scythe downwards, but Jason pulled Red out in the last moment. As Fen pulled Snithe's toe out of the ground, Jason came from behind.

Then, a clang rang out. Snithe was no longer in weapon form. Instead, she stood in a wide stance. A pair of orange nunchucks was wrapped around Red's shaft.

Snithe jerked the nunchucks upwards, ripping Red from Jason's hands. The mace let out an angry cry as she landed a few feet away.

As Jason rushed to grab her, Fen spoke. "Let him get her. Red's not in the zone yet and I don't want this one to end before it begins."

"Do you want to switch back?" Snithe said.

"Not yet," Fen said. "I'll tell you when. It's more fun this way."

Snithe took in a breath to steady herself, but she was much less confident than her partner had been when he was wielding her a few moments before. She took a quick step back and tightened her grip around the handle she was holding.

Jason returned to the fight with Red in his hands. A quick flash of white on the mace's diamond showed that Red was grinning.

"Are you nervous, Snithe?" Red said.

"No," Snithe said, taking a step to the side.

Jason and her locked weapons. Red's eye flashed on the mace's diamond before disappearing.

"Are you sure?" Red said.

All Snithe could do was counter the blows. She would beat back a hit with Fen's bar only for Jason to strike again with just as much speed as before. After a few moments, Snithe was left panting.

One of the attacks struck her arm and she yelled. Another struck her hand and she almost dropped Fen.

"This is getting boring," Fen said. "Let's switch."

The next attack that came met with the cut in the toe of Snithe's blade.

"Finally!" Red said.

The battle sped up from there. Jason took Red out of the snick and dodged the oncoming blow. Just as he was about to hit Fen from behind, Fen countered him.

Jason ducked beneath Snithe's blade much faster than any human could, then struck Fen in the side. Fen turned to face him and swiped at him, but Jason raised Red and blocked.

"This is boring. Did you learn anything new from last week to today?" Fen said.

"We just got started!" Red said.

"I could dodge and counter these in my sleep," Fen said. "They're the same as last time."

Then, he swept Snithe to the side, disarming Jason the way he did towards the beginning of the duel.

"The duel is over," He said, walking away. "Better luck next week."

Snithe transformed back into human form and stayed behind to help Red off the ground.

"Is he skipping again?" Red asked.

Snithe shook her head. "Not yet."

"We both know he's not going to make the entire class," Red said.

"It's good that he's trying!" Snithe said, then sighed. "I just wish he was a bit more patient."

Domin chose that moment to ask a potentially sensitive question.

"How did you even end up with him?"

Snithe turned to her, her eyes briefly widening before her expression turned to a scowl. "We both wanted to be Meisters, but we were weapons. We decided to be each other's Meisters."

Domin couldn't know for sure if that was a solid reason or not, but the way their partnership worked now seemed to drift between decent and disaster.

"Oh," She said.

Jason saved the conversation before it could die an awkward death. "What class are you in?"

"Does it matter?" Domin said.

She knew there were multiple classes, but she also knew that students were placed into them by exam. She hadn't taken any sort of test, and she couldn't remember what she was told to do this morning. She should have written it down.

Red, Jason, and Snithe exchanged glances.

"How about you come with us? We can figure it out from there," Jason said.

—

The classroom was large, at least compared to Domin's room. It was twice the size, if not larger. The walls were lightly colored and so were the seats and floor. It was fairly boring, but she didn't expect it to be anything else.

A man sat in the center of the room in a rolling chair. His hair was white, matching his white lab coat. The lab coat had very intentionally placed black stitches across it. Such a choice was rather—

Oh.

Oh.

Domin knew who this was now. It must've been Professor Stein.

"Red, Jason, Snithe," He said. "You're late."

Jason was the first and only to respond. "We were—"

"Having a match. I know. But you're supposed to have a teacher witness it."

"Actually, I was going to say that we were helping a new student. She doesn't know what class she's in. We were hoping you might?"

Domin shuffled out from behind the group to make herself visible.

"Domin," Stein said. "You're supposed to be here. All four of you can sit down."

Domin looked around the room. There were few empty spaces and the ones that remained were all surrounded by students. The only one that wasn't was occupied by Fen on one end. He was obviously saving seats and Domin couldn't just intrude on the friend group. 

What if they didn't want her there? Then she'd be annoying and they'd all hate her. It would be better to sit on the floor.

"You can sit with us," Jason said to her quietly.

She was saved.

The four made their way to their seats. Snithe sat beside her partner. Jason sat a seat apart from her while Red sat on the other side of him.

Domin paused. Was she allowed to sit there?

Jason motioned for her to sit... or did he? She waited for him to do it again.

That was definitely a motion for her to sit. She sat.

Then, the class began. Domin summoned her notebook and pen with a quick thought and began to doodle. All noise faded into the background as she perfected her sketch of the first animal to come to mind.

Just as she was finishing the whiskers, Jason spoke.

"Again?"

Red giggled. "Again! This is going to be a fun one. We haven't done a felid yet this year."

"I don't understand why you like this so much," Snithe said. "It's messy and disgusting."

"It's only messy if you don't follow proper practices!" Red said.

"Does he not, then?"

Red grinned. "Not at all! I used to try to correct him but he didn't listen so I gave up. Besides, the blood is kind of pretty. It's such a unique shade of red."

"So, most dissections don't involve blood?" Jason said.

"How should I know?" Red said, throwing her hands in the air. "I do it the way he does."

"What's the point of this?" Domin said. 

The group went silent. Had they forgotten she was here? Should she not have spoken?

"There isn't any!" Snithe snapped.

Red snickered. "Wrong! You can learn where the vital organs are and what protects them so you know where to strike."

"Shouldn't we be dissecting humans and Kishin eggs, then? When would we ever fight a cat?" Snithe said.

"Jason is right there," Red said. "He's a cat."

"A cat shapeshifter! When he fights, he's in human form!"

"But he's still a cat," Red said, tapping her fingers on her chair. "Sometimes a cat form proves better for battle... or sabotage. A cat can fit through vents or tight spaces better than a human."

"This is stupid. I'm not changing my mind," Snithe said.

"Have fun being wrong!" Red said in a singsong voice.

Having her fill of the argument, Domin went back to drawing. Her cat was coming along well. She was always better at drawing beings than she was at scenery.

It was black and white like the cat on the table. As Domin realized this, she supposed it could be a memento to the life lost. The soul would return, but its time as a black-and white cat would be forgotten to make room for a new life.

The cat was large-eared and short-furred. It was more black than white, with only small splotches of white on its paws and muzzle. Domin finished sketching the markings and began to fill them in.

Then, disaster struck.

Her hand was forced.

There was a line across the cat's eyes.

She turned to the perpetrator of the crime. Jason stared back at her, wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry!" He cried. "I was just trying to look."

Two sins in one, then.

Red started snickering from behind him.

Murder was not an appropriate response. It was also wasteful.

"Just don't do it again," Domin said.

—

The school day ended and Domin was back where she began. It was in that exact spot that she heard a noise. The noise was high-pitched, and it took a moment for it to register. She searched for the source.

Her eyes locked with small yellow ones. The tiny gaze belonged to a skinny, ill-groomed stray cat. With another meow, the cat stepped closer.

Domin held out her hand (her right one; the left one was for drawing and could never be put at risk) and only began thinking of fleas once the cat had already rubbed its face all over it. Trying to ignore the thought, she began rubbing the sides of the stray's face. It purred loudly.

She took the moment to admire the cat's markings. It was white with black spots that were surrounded by orange, an odd pattern of calico.

Domin moved her hand to the cat's neck and froze. There was something warm and wet there. She pulled her hand away.

Blood.

The cat was injured. No wonder it had sought her out. It meowed at her as she inspected her bloody fingers.

She moved her hands around the cat and picked it up gently. The cat let out a surprised noise before settling into her arms with a trill.

The wound was more visible from this angle. It wasn't superficial, but it wasn't as bad as she had feared. She stroked the cat's head as she began walking.

Would it have been better to take the cat to a clinic or to take it home? Domin didn't know where the nearest clinic was, and with two hands full of cat, she couldn't look it up now. However, she did have a basic idea of how to treat wounds. She could take care of the cat now and bring it to the vet later.

Home it was.

The walk was short. Her home wasn't too far from the academy to begin with. She shifted her hand to open the door and the cat meowed in surprise at the change in position.

She entered and carried the cat to the bathroom with her as she grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet. Then, she placed the cat on the counter and opened the kit. All of the supplies were present, as Domin had rarely needed it. The supplies were for use on a humanoid rather than a cat, so she couldn't use any of the medicines inside, but she shouldn't need to.

Unsure of how to begin, she started by moving the cat's fur away from the wound. There wasn't a razor in the kit, but there were bandage scissors, so she used those to gently cut the fur surrounding the wound away.

Then, she cleaned the wound out with a saline solution, making sure to get underneath the skin so she wouldn't miss any hidden areas. 

At this point, the cat let out a growl and bit her. She rolled her eyes and continued to work, but quickly realized that she had no idea how to do the rest.

"Looks like I'm going to have to look up a vet," She said.

The cat bit her again, this time with more force.

She laughed. "I didn't know if you'd understand what I was saying or not."

Domin took her hand away and searched for her phone. It was always in her left pocket, but she couldn't get out of the habit of looking for it like it wasn't. She pulled it out.

"Now, do I call the emergency number or do I just find a clinic? It's not really an emergency, is it?" She started stroking the cat's head subconsciously. "But if your wound got infected it could become way worse, and I don't know how to bandage it. Should I even bandage it? Are there times when a wound shouldn't be bandaged? How do I call a vet clinic? Do I just enter the number and describe my problem? How do I make an appointment?"

The cat trilled, stopping her in her tracks.

"I'll figure it out."

The cat meowed.

"At some point. I'll figure it out at some point."

The cat swatted at her hand.

"Maybe I should wait for father to come home. He'll know what to do. Father always knows what to do."

The cat swatted at her hand again and she removed it. Then, the cat trilled.

"Oh... right. What do you need?" She paused. "I should name you. Do you have a name?"

The cat blinked.

Domin facepalmed. "You can't speak. Why did I ask? I guess I'll have to name you. I can't take you anywhere without a name."

She studied the cat for a moment. Its fur was mostly white with spots located on its legs, back, and the top of its head. It looked like one of those beckoning cat figures, right down to the yellow eyes.

"I'm going to call you Lucky," Domin said.

What more fitting name was there?

**Author's Note:**

> I remember writing this first chapter months ago. I do not remember it being 4k words. I do not know where those words came from.
> 
> I have this chapter, 90% of an outline, and a couple scenes of a second chapter. I don't plan on picking this back up any time soon, but I never plan anything. Despite the possibility of this not making it past chapter 1, I still like what I've written so far and want to share it.


End file.
